What Do Toyota and Big Tobacco Have in Common?

Staff / Truthdig Mar 9, 2010 Fed up with a certain automotive academic who has been challenging Toyota's claims about its car troubles, the automaker demonstrated similar problems in its competitors' vehicles and fielded a team of experts to argue counterpoint. One of those experts runs a consulting firm for hire that once found no link between secondhand smoke and cancer. (continued) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

GOP Lawmaker Demands Recall of Car That Drove Him to Gay Club

Andy Borowitz / Truthdig Mar 8, 2010 The senator said not only did the car drive him to the gay nightclub, but it forced him to enter the club and party there for hours, resulting in his later arrest for DUI. (Editor's note: Although Roy Ashburn is a real state senator who really was arrested on a DUI charge after allegedly being at a gay club, in this column Borowitz takes the liberty of manufacturing a set of quotations for satire's sake.) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Ghosts in the Addict

Mr. Fish / Truthdig Mar 3, 2010 Dig deeper

Obama Healthy, Still Sins

Staff / Truthdig Mar 1, 2010 As most recent presidents have done, Barack Obama has released the results of his annual physical examination. Doctors are reporting the president is in "excellent health" despite his continued struggle with addiction to nicotine. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Scientists Uncover New Risk Associated With Thirdhand Smoke

Staff / Truthdig Feb 9, 2010 If anyone needs another reason to stop smoking, here it is: Researchers are turning their attention to the effects of "thirdhand smoke," the layer of icky residue that lingers on clothes and in living spaces after cigarettes and other tobacco delivery devices are snubbed out (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Anti-Smoking Camp Targets ‘Avatar’

Staff / Truthdig Jan 12, 2010 James Cameron's "Avatar" has made beaucoup bucks, already taking in more than $1 billion worldwide since its last last month, but there's at least one group that's not happy with certain aspects of his futuristic odyssey A campaign called Smoke Free Movies sponsored a major ad buy in Hollywood's two prominent trade papers Tuesday to protest (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Report: States Slacking on Anti-Smoking Spending

Staff / Truthdig Dec 10, 2009 According to a consortium of anti-smoking organizations, U.S. state governments are raking in more money than ever from tobacco companies but aren't spending as much as they had in recent years on preventing their constituents from starting to light up or on helping them quit. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Adult Cigarette Smoking Rate Rose in 2008

Staff / Truthdig Nov 13, 2009 Blame it on the recession? Cigarette smoking among American adults had been on the decline for about 15 years, but in 2008 the smoking rate rose, bumping up slightly from 19.8 percent the previous year to just under 21 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

If the Cigarettes Don’t Get You, the Meds Might

Staff / Truthdig Jul 2, 2009 As if quitting smoking wasn't hard enough: The FDA is slapping mental health warnings on varenicline and buproprion, two drugs commonly prescribed to help smokers ditch their "cancer sticks," as both medications may cause serious neuropsychiatric problems and could even provoke suicidal behavior among users. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘To Health’?

Staff / Truthdig Jun 26, 2009 A study published in The Lancet medical journal concludes that the effects of alcohol should be viewed in the same light as the effects of smoking. Alcohol consumption is linked to one in every 25 deaths worldwide, the study said. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Poster Addict for Tobacco Law

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jun 25, 2009 It's all right to be just a bit defensive when you're the addict in chief, but President Obama happens to be, hands down, the best possible spokesman for the new FDA regulation. He should embrace the role. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Congress OKs Anti-Smoking Bill

Staff / Truthdig Jun 12, 2009 Congress gave final approval to a bill that gives the federal government far-reaching power to try to decrease smoking in the U.S. Positioned to be much more effective than those stupid tobacco company-sponsored "Truth" commercials, the bill would limit nicotine levels and use of words like mild and light. Updated Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )